Home Visit

So, I am sitting in a Starbucks in Shawnee, Oklahoma. That's right I have been visiting my family for a couple weeks. I'll be back in León the 18th, God willing. It has a been a good and little rough two weeks, as was expected. I feel that I am ready to go back to León though. God has really blessed me in this time and I feel I needed it. Ready to get back to work.

Lady's Day

This last Saturday the women of our congregation hosted their 4th annual nation-wide women's reunion. Though, I was not to participate necessarily in the conference itself, I was to help, with the rest of the AIM men, to take care of the kids. It was definitely a job, but we survived and so did the kids. Most of the men of the Church participated in one way or another: preparing food, watching kids, taking care of electrical adjustments, setting/tearing down tables, and clean-up.
The reunion itself turned out great. With as many as 120-130 women from just about all over Mexico here in Leon to glorify God by communing and learning from His word and making relationships. The men glorified as well by serving.
All in all I really believe that this retreat, although one-day long, really glorified the name of Jesus, and after all, isn't that what it's all about?
The next day, on Sunday, we held a potluck in which with the ladies you stayed got to participate and we all got to meet them. It was a blast. I think that we were all a little worn after that day. Praise God for the work here.

Morelia!

Just the other day a few of us went out to a city called Morelia to spend time with the church out there. We went out to a georgeous lake out in the country called Humecuaro. We spent the day out there on Saturday having a good time grilling, playing games, and getting to know the church out there. It was a beautiful place that reminded me a lot of Oklahoma. That night a team-mate, Princeton, and I stayed at the missionaries house to attend service with them the following day. The service was great and I really feel and know that this trip was very well spent and that we touched some lives out there. It is a very nice city and I do wish to one-day visit God's Church in Morelia again one day.

Thanksgiving

Great day of Thanksgiving we celebrity down here! We each made a dish and brought it to our Coordinator, Omar's, house where we all came and shared and gave thanks to God. We not only shared the meal and the time but we also wrote Psalms of thanks to God and we read them to each other. It was great to here the heart of each person express how thankful they are toward God and the things, people, experiences, and of course, Jesus, that He has shared with us as we are equally blessed to follow His plan for our lives. Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for YOU!

¡Órale! Six months on the field!

Blessed be the Father whoa carries us to where we need to be from where we are! I think it is aweome that just six months ago we arrived in México not knowing a thing of Spanish or much of what México was like. But glory be to God who gives all good gifts that He has blessed us with our time here. Learning and growing more and more, and putting ourselves in His hands to walk where we can't see and serve those we meet. Learning. That's what we've been doing. I have been personally affected so much here, in this short amount of time, by the culture and the love that the Church has here. God's people are good! Though not all of it has been fun we have been working hard.
Thank you for sharing this blessing with me! I see grace and thanks in the Heart of the Lion.

Mexico Missionary Retreat

Hey! We've been working,praying,and playing hard here in México. Recently we went to the México Missionary's Retreat down on the beaches of beautiful Ixtapa. It was wonderful to meet an get to know all the missionaries that came, old and new. Some that have been in México for several years and some that have hear as long as we have. It was great and very encouraging just to be around a bunch of other people who had the same focus in this country as us, that being, expanding Christ's eternal kingdom. Some great people and willing hearts working for the Lord all over the world. Pray that God opens doors and equips us to walk through them. Thank you! Serving Him In the Heart of the Lion.

God Will Always Be With Us

So think about your life. Where you have messed up. The times where you have fallen. The times where life was hard, either on account of circumstances out of your control, or even the ones that you yourself had caused. What did life look like in those moments? Did you feel broken? Broken to the point of tears? Lost? Angry? What did you feel? What did you do in those moments? Pray to God for grace to save you? What happened then? God lifted you up, didn't He? This is what happens every-time. Whether we see it in the moment or not. Whether or not we deserve it. God comes through every single time.
The beautiful thing is that when we reflect upon our lives and take a long hard look at where God had restored order to the mess that we had created, we slowly begin to realize that this isn't OUR life at all. God is the one that gives the life. From Genesis on that has been the message. In the beginning God made order to chaos and then He gave us life.
Now He gives us a whole different type of life. A life offered through grace through the death of His son. A life to be lived to the full (Jn. 10:10). A clean start that we don't deserve. A life in which He himself said, "And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matt. 28:20)
If also you remember the passage in Isaiah 43:2, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through the fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall no consume you." And again in Isaiah 40:31, "... but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up on wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."
God is faithful, and He promises His faithfulness. Not convinced? Read Romans 8, the whole thing, it's beautiful. And, it tells us that we are "more than conquerors through him that loved us." (Rom.8:37) and that, "nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom.8:39)
So what am I trying to say? Is this another Jesus loves you pep-talk? Yes, yes it is. You know why? Because, that's the truth. Jesus does love you, and He wants you to know that. I encourage you brothers, to never give up. Even when you think that what you've done is too bad. That when your life seems just too chaotic, remember Who has the control. When you can't walk, crawl. Just don't give up. And ALWAYS put your faith in Him who saves and loves completely. Because, He gave up His life for us to have life, and to put it back in His hands, the hands of the One who breathes it.
And that's what I see, In The Heart of The Lion.

Youth Reunion

Just recently the Church here in León hosted a huge Reunión de Jovenes (Youth Retreat). This was a huge blessing and a great success. It was only a day long with the theme was Rompiendo Cadenas (Breaking Chains). We had six classes to choose from, each having their own topic related to the theme. There were about 140 or so youth that attended. Each was given their own bag, t-shirt, and pen all sporting the theme of the day. Most of the León youth were assigned to some job for the day, whether it was taking out the trash, clean up, making sure there was enough seats in each class, that everyone was able to find their class, registering, teaching, or food. The day went smoothly, easy transitions between classes, and towards the end we played a huge Bible jeopardy type game between congregations and then we had our last meal of the day and a final lesson. Afterwards, we cleaned up and took some of the youth that were able to go to downtown León to hang out and eat. It was nice night and we capped it off with singing in front of a very nice square in front of a very nice cathedral. God is good and works in some wonderful ways to bring His people together to praise Him and get to know each other. Because, we are part of The Body. That's what I see in the Heart of the Lion.